Photo Credit: Google+, NASA images
I know I am not alone in this. We writers slave over our manuscripts, our babies, until they are as perfect as we can make them. We give them to writing groups, to critique partners, to beta readers, and sometimes even to a freelance editor. And finally the day comes when we put them in the mail, or these days, in an e-mail to our agent or our editor. Some of us are still shopping for the right agent. Others have found their agent and are sending their manuscript to their editor for the first time. But sending the book out for the first time is always a daunting prospect, no matter who is waiting to receive it.
One thing I learned early on in my work as a writer is that fear is my friend. Every time I stand on a precipice, ready to take a plunge, a leap into the Void, I feel it. The thrill of fear that is almost an exhilaration, the knowledge that no matter what happens, for good or bad, my life as of this moment is changing.
Even now, with two book published and one book in edits, I still feel that way. That exhilaration of flying, that fear of crashing, but overriding both, the knowledge that, as a writer, I really don’t have a choice. My characters choose me, not the other way around. They bring their stories and I work hard to make them the best books I can. And when the time comes for my work to go out into the world, I feel the same fear of failure, the same elation. It is a good thing to leap into the Void. All the best things in my life have come to me because of taking that leap. As writers and artists, we live with that leap for good or ill, over and over again, for as long as we put pen to paper. That leap is worth it, despite the fear that comes with it. Each time, we close our eyes, and jump.
I’m hearing Van Halen’s “Jump” as I read this. Might as well jump!
LOL Jo Ann…might as well jump